Psalm 94

¹O Lord, the God of vengeance,

O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!

²Arise, O Judge of the earth.

Give the proud what they deserve.

³How long, O Lord?

How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?

⁴How long will they speak with arrogance?

How long will these evil people boast?

⁵They crush your people, Lord,

hurting those you claim as your own.

⁶They kill widows and foreigners

and murder orphans.

⁷“The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,

“and besides, the God of Israel^a doesn’t care.”

⁸Think again, you fools!

When will you finally catch on?

⁹Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?

Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?

¹⁰He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?

He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?

¹¹The Lord knows people’s thoughts;

he knows they are worthless!

¹²Joyful are those you discipline, Lord,

those you teach with your instructions.

¹³You give them relief from troubled times

until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.

¹⁴The Lord will not reject his people;

he will not abandon his special possession.

¹⁵Judgment will again be founded on justice,

and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.

¹⁶Who will protect me from the wicked?

Who will stand up for me against evildoers?

¹⁷Unless the Lord had helped me,

I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.

¹⁸I cried out, “I am slipping!”

but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.

¹⁹When doubts filled my mind,

your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

²⁰Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—

leaders whose decrees permit injustice?

²¹They gang up against the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

²²But the Lord is my fortress;

my God is the mighty rock where I hide.

²³God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.

He will destroy them for their sins.

The Lord our God will destroy them.